At the beginning of every school year I always feel excited and a bit nervous. Those feelings disappear once I meet my new students. the fist thing that I do every year when I meet my students is introducing myself , and then setting the rules of the classroom , A.K.A the code of the conduct. This step is very important to me, because I want my students to know the things we need to have a suitable environment for both teaching and learning.
The method of setting the rules may differ from one teacher to another but what I usually do is the following:
1- I prepare a list of rules to have something to refer to.
2- After introducing myself I ask students to take a piece of paper and a pen and jot down the rules that they find important for a successful classroom. In the first day I don’t mind using our mother langue, Arabic, to give the instructions because I need a 100% interaction with the students. The students also can write the rules in their first language.
3- While students are writing are writing I like to monitor them to make sure that everyone is involved and also to answer their question if they have any.
4- When the students finish their list I encourage them to say the rules and discuss the ideas of their peers
5- At the end I write the most relevant rules that the students came up with on the board.
The rules that the students usually come up with are:
1- Respect yourself , your peers , and your teacher
2- Wear the school uniform.
3- Switch off mobile phone.
4- respect the school and the classroom properties
5- don’t eat or chew gum in the classroom
6- Bring the material needed for the subject (books, notebooks, pens…)
7- Participate and ask questions when needed.
8- Attend regularly.
9- Be punctual.
P.S the rules may differ from one class to another and also from one culture to another. So always feel free to modify the rules to suit your classroom.
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